St Mirren 1-0 Aberdeen

St Mirren1 - 0Aberdeen

New signing Nigel Hasselbaink's second half strike was his first goal for the Paisley side

A Nigel Hasselbank goal secured St Mirren's first win of the season as Danny Lennon's attractive brand of football paid off with a win over Aberdeen.

The Dons survived a first half assault before the Buddies' new Dutch striker fired home in the 50th minute.

Hasselbaink had earlier missed two shooting opportunities and a free header at the end of the first half.

Aberdeen were unimpressive with Josh Magennis closest to grabbing a goal.

The defeat means the Dons are without a win in Paisley since May 2010 and have yet to score in the Scottish Premier League this season.

Lennon named an unchanged starting 11 for his side's first home match season, keeping faith with the team that drew with Dunfermline on Monday.

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And the home side continued the fluid style of play that impressed earlier in the week, Aberdeen struggling early on to make any in-roads into the Buddies' half.

New signing Kari Arnason was given the role of neutralising of Steven Thompson - the St Mirren striker being clean shaven after deciding to shave off his beard as a result of his penalty miss against Dunfermline on Monday night.

But that did not stop the Thompson missing another chance in the 15th minute as he contrived to fire over the bar with a half-volley from six yards out from Jeroen Tesselaar's corner kick.

The Aberdeen fans had to wait until the 33rd minute before their side forced a save from Craig Samson, the St Mirren keeper diving to his right to save from Magennis's strike.

However, as was the case against Dunfermline, Hasselbaink, Thompson and Gary Teale ensured the Buddies dominated without breaking the deadlock.

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On his home debut, Hasselbaink uncovered several first-half chances but struggled to match creativity with clinical finishing: first going wide with a header then similarly failing to convert from Teale's floated pass into the box.

However, it was through Hasselbaink's endeavour that the deadlock was eventually broken in the 50th minute.

The Dutchman found himself one on one with Gonzalez and cooly side-footed the ball past the Aberdeen keeper from the edge of the penalty box to put St Mirren ahead.

That goal appeared to galvanize the home side's desire to play the attractive brand of football promised by manager Danny Lennon, while the visitor's chances were restricted to long balls from Arnason with little success.

Michael Paton and Scott Vernon had a late chance for the visitors, but ultimately Craig Brown's pre-match predictions of an improved St Mirren were shown to be more accurate than the Aberdeen boss might have hoped.

Live text and stats

Saturday, 30 July 2011

Scottish Premier

Home Team

Score

Away Team

Time

St Mirren

1-0

Aberdeen

FT

(HT 0-0)

Hasselbaink 50

St Mirren

01 Samson

02 van Zanten

04 McGregor yellow card

05 Mair

22 Tesselaar

06 Goodwin yellow card

08 Thomson

21 Teale

09 Thompson (Carey 78)

10 McGowan yellow card

11 Hasselbaink (McShane 87)

Substitutes

25 McHugh,

14 McAusland,

20 Kennedy,

17 Mclean,

23 Carey,

16 McQuade,

19 McShane

Aberdeen

20 Gonzalez

03 Foster

06 Considine

13 Robertson yellow card

08 Milsom

11 Arnason

15 Pawlett (Megginson 63)

16 Osbourne

09 Vernon yellow card (Low 74)

10 Mackie yellow card

21 Magennis yellow card (Paton 57)

Substitutes

32 Brown,

02 McArdle,

24 Low,

26 Brown,

30 Fraser,

19 Paton,

23 Megginson

Ref: NorrisAtt: 5,011

ST MIRREN

ABERDEEN

Possession

St Mirren56%

Aberdeen44%

Attempts on target

St Mirren5

Aberdeen5

Attempts off target

St Mirren7

Aberdeen2

Corners

St Mirren7

Aberdeen1

Fouls

St Mirren10

Aberdeen17

Final Result

Full Time

90:00+3:05 The match has reached full-time.

90:00+2:48 Kari Arnason takes a shot. Save by Craig Samson.

90:00+2:23 Shot by Graham Carey from 25 yards. Save by David Gonzalez.

90:00+1:40 Gary Teale is ruled offside. Indirect free kick taken by David Gonzalez.

72:54 Mitchel Megginson produces a right-footed shot from a long way out which goes wide right of the goal.

71:51 Corner taken by Gary Teale.

69:33 Steven Thompson concedes a free kick for a foul on Andrew Considine. Direct free kick taken by Andrew Considine.

67:36 Free kick awarded for a foul by Andrew Considine on Steven Thompson. Free kick taken by Gary Teale.

66:04 Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Jeroen Tesselaar from the right by-line, clearance made by Andrew Considine. A cross
is delivered by Gary Teale, clearance made by Andrew Considine. Mitchel Megginson sends in a cross, clearance made by Lee
Mair.

65:56 A cross is delivered by Darren McGregor, Richard Foster makes a clearance.

64:47 The ball is sent over by Richard Foster, clearance made by Jim Goodwin.

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